Contacts and companies in ProjectMark are not just records — they form a relationship network that supports opportunity management, bidding, and long-term collaboration across projects.
This article explains how to structure, maintain, and use contacts and companies effectively, with a focus on relationships, consistency, and data quality. Step-by-step actions such as creating or editing records are intentionally covered in separate how-to guides.
Understanding How Contacts and Companies Work Together
ProjectMark is built around two core record types: Contacts and Companies.
- Companies represent organizations such as developers, architects, general contractors, consultants, or suppliers.
- Contacts represent individuals who work for — or have worked for — those companies.
This separation allows teams to manage people and organizations independently while keeping them tightly connected. It also ensures that historical context is preserved as people move between companies or roles over time.
At a conceptual level, everything starts with who the person is and which organization they are connected to.
How Contacts and Companies Connect in Practice
Once contacts and companies are created, ProjectMark provides relationship tabs inside each record to manage real-world connections.
- Inside a Company
- Contacts tab: Shows all individuals associated with that organization.
- Affiliates tab: Shows relationships with other companies, such as parent companies, subsidiaries, joint ventures, or frequent partners.
- Inside a Contact
- Companies tab: Shows the organizations the contact is associated with.
- Contacts tab: Allows you to reference relationships with other individuals when relevant.
These views make it easy to understand how people and organizations are connected without flattening everything into a single list.
Using Affiliates to Represent Real-World Structures
Affiliates play an important role in keeping company and contact records realistic.
Use Affiliates to represent:
- Parent and subsidiary company structures
- Joint ventures or special-purpose entities
- Partner firms that frequently collaborate
- Related organizations that influence decision-making
By managing affiliates inside company and contact cards, teams can:
- Recognize connected stakeholders early in bidding
- Preserve context across opportunities and projects
- Avoid duplicating companies that are closely related
Affiliates add depth without complicating the core Contacts ↔ Companies model.
Best Practices for Managing Contacts
Contacts should exist for a reason — not just because a name was available.
Helpful tips:
- Always associate contacts with a company when possible
- Keep job titles and roles up to date as people move
- Avoid duplicates by searching before creating new contacts
- Use notes to capture relationship context that doesn’t fit neatly into fields
A strong contact record helps answer:
Who is this person, and how do they relate to our work?
Best Practices for Managing Companies
Companies act as anchors for relationships, opportunity history, and reporting.
Helpful tips:
- Use consistent company names across the system
- Clearly define company roles (developer, architect, GC, etc.)
- Maintain affiliate relationships to reflect ownership or partnerships
- Keep company records stable even as contacts change
Well-maintained company records create continuity across bids and projects.
Keeping Relationship Data Clean Over Time
Relationship data is not static. As teams grow and projects evolve, maintenance becomes essential.
To keep data reliable:
- Review contacts and company relationships periodically
- Update affiliations and roles when changes occur
- Merge duplicates when they appear
- Align required fields with internal data standards
Clean data supports better collaboration, reporting, and decision-making across ProjectMark.
How This Supports the Rest of ProjectMark
Accurate contact and company relationships directly support:
- Opportunity qualification and bidding
- Team planning and ownership
- Historical analysis across projects
- Consistent filtering and reporting
When relationships are structured correctly, everything downstream becomes easier to manage.
